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Twitter Acquires Vine

Twitter (News - Alert) has purchased video-sharing startup company, Vine, which appears to be quite similar to Tout, a social networking and microblogging service widely touted during WWE’s television shows, featuring fifteen-second tweet-like video clips.

Whether or not such a video service will be successful is questionable; it is difficult enough to get out a tweet in 140 characters, much less to re-record a video if one goes over a time limit. It is also unlikely to be popular with women, who will fret over their hair, makeup, and whether or not their house is clean enough to record without the safety of written text.

There is very little known about Vine, as it has not officially launched. Vine differs from Tout and other video services such as Viddy, Keek, Vyclone, and Socialcam in that it refrains from using one continuous shot; rather, it facilitates video snippets stitched together. Tom Cheredar of Venture BeatVine, the six-second video clips loop, differing from an animated gif in that they have sound.

surmises that there may be camera filters or a method of picking the best portions of a clip, as the company’s website states that use of Vine does not require editing, post-production, or rendering. According to those who have participated in the early testing of

As it stands, Vine only facilitates video services for iPhone (News - Alert) users, which may be changed by Twitter’s acquisition, as the company will be going from three employees to having the backing of a social media giant. Whether or not the video clips will be integrated into Twitter or if Vine will function as a standalone site is still unclear.

Until more details are known about Vine itself and its collaboration with Twitter, what this news means for the Twitterati and other social media users can not be determined. One thing, however, isclear: Vine is attracting a lot of significant investor attention, with a number of other high-profile names rumored to be backing the company, including David Tisch, RRE and High Line Venture Partners.